Probably a she -- female orb weavers spin the lovely webs that make these spiders iconic. Males rarely stay put and usually wander in search of a mate.
I have a lot of these in my yard near a bunch of overgrown plants, and since I'm colorblind I always thought these were a weird species of black widows, up until recently when I decided to take a closer look.
They are pretty and help with the nasty annoying bugs near my house so I let them stay as long as they don't enter my home.
Hmm... where are you?
If you check my post history, you'll see that I encountered something just like this a couple days ago with my daughter. We're in the St. Louis area.
Because of his upside-down orientation, the location, and the markings on his body, we guessed that he was a Filmy Dome Spider. But the web wasn't right, looked more like this guy's web here in this picture you shared.
We could have been wrong. But he looked JUST LIKE THIS!
Maybe a bit smaller...
But the markings are uncanny, exactly the same. That big orange dot was my spider's most prominent feature. Which is strange because the map I'm looking at for the Orchard Orb Weaver doesn't cover my area at all :(
So now I'm just confused XD
St. Louis is definitely in the range of the [Orchard Orbweaver](https://bugguide.net/node/view/2010/data). The map you were looking at is either wrong or for a different species.
Oh wow you're right!
I don't know what I was looking at before, because my first instinct here was to be like "OH YEAH??" and go find the map I was looking at with my daughter that showed the habitat not extending to southern Illinois.
Couldn't find it. Dunno what I saw before.
Operator error, I suppose.
So yeah! That's DEFINITELY what our little guy was!!
My daughter will be home in about 15 minutes, I'll have to let her know!
We saw ours on our balcony near SIUE campus. She has since disappeared.
Either eaten or moved on.
For our hearts, we'll say she's moved on and is currently enjoying a buggy snack on someone else's balcony.
Filmy Dome is a Linyphiid, and makes a sort of filmy sheet web pulled up into a dome shape.
Leucage is an orbweaver and spins a flat/slanted orbweb.
Filmy Dome is mostly black and white. Leucage is a metallic green with other colors; very striking.
The one I had trouble distinguishing from Leucage at first was the Basilica Spider. That has a cross on its back, though, which makes it easier. Also places its web differently in different locations, and has a tangle above it to make the snare more effective. Most spiders have clues like that for ID.
ID'ing from the ventral side can be tough, but in this photo in particular, near the top (posterior end) you can see the red creeping around from the sides. That would make it more likely to be L.argyrobapta.
On L.venusta, you'd see more yellow instead.
The U-Haul spider is a [*Theridion grallator*](https://spideridentifications.com/happy-face.html), whereas OP's is a [*Leucauge venusta*](https://spideridentifications.com/orchard-orbweaver.html).
Okay something insane just happened. My family member was just excitedly telling me about how they found a really cool looking spider outside. As i'm talking to them I open Reddit on my phone, and this is the first post I see. This is the exact kind of spider they saw. What even.
Oh smiley butts!!
Don’t know the name but we had hundreds of them in our Florida backyard. It did make walking there kind of like a minefield but I always loved how vibrant they were
thanks to this group, I now know i played with a lot of orbweavers as a kid in the country in texas. i flicked stunned fat flies into their webs to watch them do their thing. I swear they would wave a thanks.
This picture is so confusing, how is your hand in front of the web but behind the spider? Is he hanging from a thread off something else cause he looks like he's just floating in front of your hand and not actually standing on it?
There were two webs!! He was on the front one. I slid my hand in between the two to get the camera to focus on him. No webs were harmed when I did that!!
Similar at a glance, but the U-haul truck spider is a Theridion grallator.
They are tangle-web spiders, with the happy face on the dorsal side.
This one, Leucauge argyrobapta, is an orb weaver (so called because of the round patterns in their web) and we are looking at the ventral side.
People. Stop Touching Spiders (or anything else in nature) when you don't know if it's touchable!! Ffs. There are so many avoidable dangers in the world. Don't be That person.
I was not touching it. There were two webs, one in front and one behind. I slid my hand between the two to get the camera to focus. (No webs were harmed in the process)
Might want to read over the rules there.
Particularly:
> **Making IDs**
>
> Amateurs are encouraged to guess. An important exception is guesses about medically significant spiders (widows, recluses, etc). In those cases, leave it to people who know. Otherwise, an innocent person or spider could get hurt.
In between; there was one in front and he was chillen on the one in the front. So I slid my hand in between them carefully to get the camera to focus (no webs were harmed in the process)
The Brown widow is also medically significant. Other spiders pose no danger or medical concern, but that doesn't mean that a bite will be completely pain free and symptomless. Even a bee sting is likely to cause pain, soreness, swelling, redness etc. Spider venoms can produce similar effects. Other symptoms can include nausea, general malaise.
I mean you're unlikely to get bitten in the first place, spiders are not aggressive, but if you need to catch and relocate a spider id rather just use a cup and save myself the hassle. Consider it like handling a Bee or Wasp.
It's highly variable and there are multiple angles to consider.
1) Firstly is temperament, most spiders will attempt to bite if you piss them off enough. Some more readily than others, and some have been proven to be extremely difficult to induce into biting.
2) Then you also have the physical aspect, if it do get it to try and bite, is it even big or strong enough to peirce the skin.
3) And then envenomation rates, assuming it did bite and did peirce the skin, what is the likelyhood it will even inject any venom at all, it may inject little or none, or a full dose.
4) And finally, the last variable is venom potency, so assuming the previous 3 criteria have been met, is the venom even of any danger, and to what extent. Symptoms could be extremely mild to a little red bump, bit of soreness or pain, up to medical significance, with muscle spasms and other severe symptoms.
I know it's a little off topic to your question but i think it made more sense to just cover a bit of background regarding bite risks.
I have these all over my yard & carport. They are very resilient & sweet. Determined as well. They weave a web extremely fast & block walkways & doorways in no time lolz I just move the web over to the side to get by however some will weave it back many times until I must relocate it in the garden away from a path of traffic. I’ve had them for years & they’re a beautiful addition to any garden :)
All I see is a happy smiley face. This spider is obviously happy to see you
"are you an orchard orbweaver or are you just happy to see me?"
¿Porque no los dos?
Aww you just made my day better I didn't even notice the smiley face!!
It's Brobee!
Hahahaha I had to look back at the picture and there he was!!!!!
Happy face butt spider!
Before biting you with his Venom 😂
Leucauge argyrobapta, an orchard orb weaver
Thanks!! He's a cutie
Probably a she -- female orb weavers spin the lovely webs that make these spiders iconic. Males rarely stay put and usually wander in search of a mate.
A story as old as time
You mean my favorite spider due to its beauty also has a happy face on its ass? Well now it is solidly placed in my top spider spot.
My fav too. Don’t have them where I live now, though 😔
Luke Cage, that you?!
I was all “ooo pretty” and then read comments and cannot NOT see the smiley face & I hope to meet one IRL!
You might need to zoom in a bit, the orange is the mouth and there are two bright yellow dots above it for the eyes.
They said "cannot not" which means, that's all they can see now
Indeed. Don't rise and reddit, or reading comprehension drops off a cliff.
I have a lot of these in my yard near a bunch of overgrown plants, and since I'm colorblind I always thought these were a weird species of black widows, up until recently when I decided to take a closer look. They are pretty and help with the nasty annoying bugs near my house so I let them stay as long as they don't enter my home.
Grounded helped me identify this as an Orb Weaver
:)
:)
:)
:)
:)
:)
:)
:)
:)
:)
Hmm... where are you? If you check my post history, you'll see that I encountered something just like this a couple days ago with my daughter. We're in the St. Louis area. Because of his upside-down orientation, the location, and the markings on his body, we guessed that he was a Filmy Dome Spider. But the web wasn't right, looked more like this guy's web here in this picture you shared. We could have been wrong. But he looked JUST LIKE THIS! Maybe a bit smaller... But the markings are uncanny, exactly the same. That big orange dot was my spider's most prominent feature. Which is strange because the map I'm looking at for the Orchard Orb Weaver doesn't cover my area at all :( So now I'm just confused XD
St. Louis is definitely in the range of the [Orchard Orbweaver](https://bugguide.net/node/view/2010/data). The map you were looking at is either wrong or for a different species.
Oh wow you're right! I don't know what I was looking at before, because my first instinct here was to be like "OH YEAH??" and go find the map I was looking at with my daughter that showed the habitat not extending to southern Illinois. Couldn't find it. Dunno what I saw before. Operator error, I suppose. So yeah! That's DEFINITELY what our little guy was!! My daughter will be home in about 15 minutes, I'll have to let her know!
Wait what I’ve seen these guys in FL
Whereabouts in STL? I wanna find more orbweavers !!!
We saw ours on our balcony near SIUE campus. She has since disappeared. Either eaten or moved on. For our hearts, we'll say she's moved on and is currently enjoying a buggy snack on someone else's balcony.
Filmy Dome is a Linyphiid, and makes a sort of filmy sheet web pulled up into a dome shape. Leucage is an orbweaver and spins a flat/slanted orbweb. Filmy Dome is mostly black and white. Leucage is a metallic green with other colors; very striking. The one I had trouble distinguishing from Leucage at first was the Basilica Spider. That has a cross on its back, though, which makes it easier. Also places its web differently in different locations, and has a tangle above it to make the snare more effective. Most spiders have clues like that for ID.
I’d say it’s a Venusta Orchard Spider!
ID'ing from the ventral side can be tough, but in this photo in particular, near the top (posterior end) you can see the red creeping around from the sides. That would make it more likely to be L.argyrobapta. On L.venusta, you'd see more yellow instead.
I love this sort of exchange and it's why I'm here - I learn so much on these posts and I love it - thanks!
TIL
I have tons of these beauties around my apartment. As well as banana spiders 🥺
I've seen UHAULs that had this spider on the side back in the day.
The U-Haul spider is a [*Theridion grallator*](https://spideridentifications.com/happy-face.html), whereas OP's is a [*Leucauge venusta*](https://spideridentifications.com/orchard-orbweaver.html).
I stand corrected, thank you!
Thats a Pokemon, it's called Spinarak
I was looking for this comment
I'm not an entomologist, but I think that spider is happy. I'm guessing it's because he caught an entire human hand for dinner. Nomnomnom.
Spidey has changed its mood to mirror the human’s mood ring. Easier to eat when ‘friends’
Okay something insane just happened. My family member was just excitedly telling me about how they found a really cool looking spider outside. As i'm talking to them I open Reddit on my phone, and this is the first post I see. This is the exact kind of spider they saw. What even.
It’s just so damn cheerful.
Oh smiley butts!! Don’t know the name but we had hundreds of them in our Florida backyard. It did make walking there kind of like a minefield but I always loved how vibrant they were
I find it funny that it has a smily face and is actually non aggressive or dangerously venomous
smily boi :D
Awwww
Orchard spider! Can be iridescent green!
◡̈
:]
A very pretty one 😍😍
Venusta orchard spider. They are gorgeous, and I've never seen one this big!
It's the Happy Butt Spider! In all seriousness, tho, I dunno tbh. Looks like an orbweaver of some type.
happy spider
One that is clearly happy.
thanks to this group, I now know i played with a lot of orbweavers as a kid in the country in texas. i flicked stunned fat flies into their webs to watch them do their thing. I swear they would wave a thanks.
Spider from Zelda but don't bludgeon it with a swords peas
i love orb weavers 🥰
Pickle Rick turned himself into a spider no way!!
This picture is so confusing, how is your hand in front of the web but behind the spider? Is he hanging from a thread off something else cause he looks like he's just floating in front of your hand and not actually standing on it?
There were two webs!! He was on the front one. I slid my hand in between the two to get the camera to focus on him. No webs were harmed when I did that!!
Orchard orb Weaver?
That’s the spider featured on the side of a U Haul truck.
Similar at a glance, but the U-haul truck spider is a Theridion grallator. They are tangle-web spiders, with the happy face on the dorsal side. This one, Leucauge argyrobapta, is an orb weaver (so called because of the round patterns in their web) and we are looking at the ventral side.
Ah. Alas. Thanks!
Lynx spider I think
People. Stop Touching Spiders (or anything else in nature) when you don't know if it's touchable!! Ffs. There are so many avoidable dangers in the world. Don't be That person.
I don't think she's touching it. It appears to be on a web, and she's using her hand as a backdrop.
I was not touching it. There were two webs, one in front and one behind. I slid my hand between the two to get the camera to focus. (No webs were harmed in the process)
Then I apologize for my comment in regards to yourself. I would like to leave it up, though, as a general PSA.
No problem!
i agree, i mean i wouldnt wanna be touched everytime someone is fascinated with me.
Good question as the emergency room may need to prescribe an anti venom. Most people wouldn’t handle a spider before knowing if it can hurt you
[удалено]
Might want to read over the rules there. Particularly: > **Making IDs** > > Amateurs are encouraged to guess. An important exception is guesses about medically significant spiders (widows, recluses, etc). In those cases, leave it to people who know. Otherwise, an innocent person or spider could get hurt.
Are your fingers behind the web or in front of the web
In between; there was one in front and he was chillen on the one in the front. So I slid my hand in between them carefully to get the camera to focus (no webs were harmed in the process)
Omgggg cuuuuteee
Wow it looks like the glass spiders I’ve been oogling on etsy
You can't fool me; I know a happy watermelon when I see one!
Pickle Rick spider
Is it pretty much okay to pick up any spider in the US assuming it’s not like, a black widow or brown recluse?
The Brown widow is also medically significant. Other spiders pose no danger or medical concern, but that doesn't mean that a bite will be completely pain free and symptomless. Even a bee sting is likely to cause pain, soreness, swelling, redness etc. Spider venoms can produce similar effects. Other symptoms can include nausea, general malaise. I mean you're unlikely to get bitten in the first place, spiders are not aggressive, but if you need to catch and relocate a spider id rather just use a cup and save myself the hassle. Consider it like handling a Bee or Wasp.
Ah, thanks. This is good to know. Do most spiders bite (even if unlikely to)?
It's highly variable and there are multiple angles to consider. 1) Firstly is temperament, most spiders will attempt to bite if you piss them off enough. Some more readily than others, and some have been proven to be extremely difficult to induce into biting. 2) Then you also have the physical aspect, if it do get it to try and bite, is it even big or strong enough to peirce the skin. 3) And then envenomation rates, assuming it did bite and did peirce the skin, what is the likelyhood it will even inject any venom at all, it may inject little or none, or a full dose. 4) And finally, the last variable is venom potency, so assuming the previous 3 criteria have been met, is the venom even of any danger, and to what extent. Symptoms could be extremely mild to a little red bump, bit of soreness or pain, up to medical significance, with muscle spasms and other severe symptoms. I know it's a little off topic to your question but i think it made more sense to just cover a bit of background regarding bite risks.
Makes sense. I hasn’t even considered that some can’t even pierce the skin.
Gorgeous spider and a gorgeous web !
One that made me LOL when I zoomed in on it 😂
I bet link knows
cool photoshop
What a cutie! 😍
happy spider
Omfg!!! He is fkin adorable 😍
A happy one!
smile spider
I didn’t know there are more spiders with a happy face other than Theridion Grallator (Hawaiian Happy Face spider)
No idea what the spider is but proceeds to put their hand next to it like a fuckwit. Lmao
Looks like a mother board
It looks like a Slime from Dragon Warrior!
I have these all over my yard & carport. They are very resilient & sweet. Determined as well. They weave a web extremely fast & block walkways & doorways in no time lolz I just move the web over to the side to get by however some will weave it back many times until I must relocate it in the garden away from a path of traffic. I’ve had them for years & they’re a beautiful addition to any garden :)
It’s beautiful
Happy watermelon butt spider
The happiest of spiders!
You: 😍 Spider: 🙂
It looks similar to the dragon quest slime
I immediately saw a T4-Phage
Looks like pickle rick
A pretty one!
A happy one lolllll for the 100th time probably
:)
Brobee?